


Blizzard Blues and Baby Steps

by Miyotesse



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 12:52:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13858161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyotesse/pseuds/Miyotesse
Summary: Chloe's latest taunting of an Akuma leads to serious consequences, drawing in Juleka. Will the two girls find time to chill as the ice gets closer, or will the frostbite be more than they can chew. ICE PUNS :D





	Blizzard Blues and Baby Steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Megatraven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megatraven/gifts).



                “Storm’s Edge? Uugh, how tacky. This is just a repeat of Stormy Weather! Hawkmoth is losing his touch,” Chloe said as she and a small handful of the class hurried along the upper walkway of Francois Dupont. Above them on a dark sparking cloud sat a black and grey clad Akuma who was cackling like an evil genius. Chloe rolled her eyes, and stopped at the railing to glance up at him. The rest of the class kept going, but one of the retreating kids slowed down, turning back to face the blonde.

                “Try doing something original next time!” she yelled up at him, arms defiantly crossed as his attention snapped towards her.

                “I’ll freeze your mouth shut if you keep talking like that!” he snapped, gathering energy in his hands. Chloe arched an eyebrow with a huff.

                “Let me guess, you are going to try and freeze me in a block of ice? It’s been done, it’s passe, and frankly, it’s embarrassing to be eeeek!” she squeaked, as a blast of blue energy surged past her, creating a huge wall of ice that blocked her retreat. Her confidence waivered as he began to charge up another blast, hands shaking as she felt the intense chill from the wall of ice begin to envelop her.

                “Good guess. Enjoy your eternity as an ice cube!” he cackled, and shot another beam forwards. This wall stopped her from running in the direction she had been originally heading, trapping her between two impenetrable walls of ice.

                “Th-this changes nothing you know! Your powers are nothing but pointless rehashes of other Akuma!” she chided, defiant even in the face of doom. “Ladybug will have you beaten in ten seconds flat, you copycat!” she snapped, pacing backwards as he loomed towards her, cloud crackling angrily as he charged up another blast of ice. Chloe’s back hit the windowed classroom walls, and a window swung open. A slender pair of hands grabbed the girl by her shoulders, and pulled her through some feat of considerable strength up and into the classroom as the blast surged forward. Chloe’s eyes were wide as she fell backwards, shock and fear blending together as she landed on someone who was most definitely not Ladybug or Chat Noir.

                “Curse you! Fine! If you want to skitter away and hide, have fun doing that! ICE MAZE!” the Akuma roared, blue energy surging into the room through the partly open window. Chloe and her unknown rescuer could barely scramble to their feet before the room was filled with ice, shards handing from the ceiling, columns blocking entry and great sheets of ice creating a literal maze. The Akuma’s cackle died off as it retreated, leaving Chloe and her rescuer trapped in the rapidly cooling room.

 

                “Well, things could certainly be worse. I was hoping Ladybug would rescue me, Rena, but your company is almost as welcJULEKA!?” Chloe exclaimed as she finally brought herself to look at her saviour. The tall girl was forced to stoop in the little chamber they had ended up in, but she certainly looked dressed for the situation. She had a huge black puffy coat on, a little bobble hat that looked incredibly well-worn and a thin purple scarf around her neck. She was even pulling pastel pink mittens over her hands. Chloe regarded the mittens with a raised eyebrow.

                “They’re Rose’s…” the girl mumbled, red eyes glaring across at Chloe, who bristled a little at the harshness of the stare.

                “Why do you have all that? Before the Akuma it wasn’t even that cold. I mean, it was cold, but, winter survival cold? Puh-lease,” she asked, unable to focus on anything else. Juleka shrugged, huddling up a little as she pulled her hands into her coat.

                “I don’t like the cold. I catch bugs really easily…” the woman rasped in response, her throat already not sounding fantastic. Satisfied, Chloe let out a little sigh.

                “Uugh, could this get any worse. Trapped in a freezing chamber, and not even a superheroine to rescue me! And I think I even chipped a nail, uugh, why does everything bad happen to me?” she lamented, shivering a little as she also pulled into herself.

                “Maybe it’s because you taunt the evil supervillains? Or maybe it’s because you **cause** most of the evil supervillains in the first place?” Juleka snipped, rolling her eyes. Chloe baulked in true open mouthed, slack jawed shock.

                “Just what are you insinuating, Juleka Couffaine? I will have you know that I am practically perfect! Rarely do I ever do anything wrong, and when I do, I make up for it in a timely and sincere manner! Granted, yes, I may have been… indirectly responsible for one or two Akumas way way in the past. Like Sabrina’s incident. And there may have been Kim, but that was really a mutual thing. I suppose you could technically count Alix. Alya. Ivan, my god I’ve caused a lot, haven’t I…” she said, blinking a little. Juleka said nothing, huddling up a little more.

 

                After a few minutes of silence, there came a knocking against the sheet ice on the far end of the room. Chloe had been in sulking silence since her revelation, and barely acknowledged the noise, but Juleka began to pick her way through the ice until she was next to the big blocking wall. On the far side, she could see a few vague shapes.

                “Juleka?” a familiar voice called, though it was highly muffled.

                “Rose?” she called back as loud as she could, her voice echoing in the icy chamber.

                “Oh my dear Juleka, how could this happen! You’re safe aren’t you? Why did you run off, we were all safe and then you were missing and then suddenly there was all this ice and you were in the library and now you’re trapped in there!” the blonde girl said, or at least, that’s what Juleka assumed she had said. It was difficult to hear through the ice that she now realised was slowly getting thicker.

                “I’ll be fine,” she lied, “I just had to do something… go find somewhere safe. I’m fine, really,” she said, fighting back the urge to cough as she spoke. Reluctantly, the shapes began to head off, as Juleka made her way back to Chloe.

                “It’s not nice to lie to your girlfriend,” Chloe said quietly when Juleka returned. The taller girl flashed an angry glare towards her.

                “She’s not my girlfriend!” Juleka snapped angrily.

                “Ok, ok, p-pining unrequited crush, whatever.”

                “Shut up!”

                “Make me, ghoul!”

                “Arrogant, self-centred brat!” Juleka snapped, her throat catching on the last word causing her to degenerate into a series of hacking, throat obliterating coughs. Chloe watched for a few moments before gingerly crawling forward, not sure what she should do. Juleka was turning red from the coughs, and before long the blonde was patting her on the back to try and help her through it.

                “You w-weren’t kidding about getting ill, were you?” Chloe said, her shivers getting a little worse as she knelt beside the dark haired girl. Juleka shook her head slowly, taking in shallow breaths through her nose.

                “I have a shitty immune system,” she croaked weakly, shuddering as she tried to swallow. Chloe’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly, but the tall girl did notice the change.

                “Well, you n-need to look after yours-self. Come on, let’s go and find a chair, s-sitting on the icy floor is worse for you than n-not even wearing a coat,” she said, pulling the girl up to her feet, her lip visibly quivering in the cold.

 

                They wandered through the icy book maze until they came across one of the arrangements of tables and chairs, but everything was iced, only one of the chairs was even partly exposed. The desk at the front of the room was relatively clear, but even that had a huge formation of ice curling around it.

                “Th-th-that’ll h-have to d-d-do,” Chloe stammered, pointing a shaking arm over to it. Juleka nodded and quickly moved through the field of obstacles, helping Chloe along with her until they made it to the desk. Juleka heaved herself up onto it, and then looked over at Chloe.

                “Come on…” she said, offering her hand.

                “I’m f-f-fine standing. Besides, there’s b-b-barely enough room for you,” she said, arms crossed defiantly despite her quivering. Juleka looked the girl up and down, and shook her head.

                “Come here,” she said in a gruff, husky whisper, pulling the girl towards herself despite her protests. Chloe stumbled up against her, and found to her alarm that Juleka was unfastening her big coat.

                “W-what are you doing!? S-stop, stop, p-p-put that back on, you’ll c-catch your d-d-d-death!!” she snapped angrily, slapping Juleka’s hands away. Juleka took both of Chloe’s hands in between her mittens, and looked up into her eyes.

                “You’ll freeze too. My coat is big. We can share,” she said, matter-of-factly, hands falling back to her zipper. Chloe opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Juleka had pulled one half of the coat open, and was pulling Chloe up onto the desk. The coat wrapped around them both with barely room to spare, and Juleka zipped and buttoned it back up, leaving Chloe kneeling in Juleka’s lap, body shaking.

                “Y-y-you just do whatever you want, don’t you Juleka Couffaine!” Chloe squeaked shrilly, cheeks reddening and not just from the cold. Every move she made brought her in contact with Juleka in one way or another. A shift to her arms had her touching Juleka’s side or her stomach; a shift of her thighs had her touch her legs.

                “Quit shifting! You k-keep touching me!” Chloe whined, becoming increasingly flustered as she tried to get comfortable.

                “You’re the one who keeps moving,” Juleka mumbled back, her own cheeks visibly pinker as well. Both girls wriggled about for a few more moments until Juleka could take it no more. She grabbed Chloe’s body and lifted her slightly, moving the girl’s knees past her sides, settling the girl down in her lap.

                “Hmph! How dare you womanhandle me!” Chloe huffed, but she was secretly quite relieved, the position was comfortable enough and she was not touching the girl too inappropriately.

                “Didn’t complain earlier,” Juleka rumbled, her throat threatening to unleash another torrent of rasped coughs if she wasn’t careful.

                “Which reminds me, since when were you so strong? You have lifted me whole at least twice now,” Chloe said, arching an eyebrow as she looked down at Juleka. This caused the girl to blush a little, turning away from the stare.

                “You don’t want to know…” she mumbled.

                “Indulge me. I’m curious.

                “Trust me, you don’t wanna know.”

                “I happen to know my own mind better than you, Juleka! Tell me!”

                “FINE! I started working out after I got trapped in the toilet the day I got Akumatised. I didn’t want something so simple to cause so muuch…” she snapped, getting hoarser and hoarser until her words were nothing more than a croaked noise. She began to cough trying in vain to get her spluttering away from Chloe. Juleka struggled to hold back, but soon her eyes were streaming with tears as she coughed violently. Chloe’s arms slid around her body, patting and rubbing her back as the girl continued to cough. She leant in closer, allowing Juleka to rest her head on her shoulder, patting her back softly to allow the coughs to subside.

 

                “Thank you…” Juleka managed once she had recovered enough of her breath back to talk. Chloe said nothing, slowly pulling away from the girl, an unreadable expression on her face.

                “It’s nothing…” she said quietly, eyes boring down and away from the girl. She shivered again as her finger touched against the ice behind them.

                “Won’t be able t’do this much longer,” Juleka whispered, glancing around them. “Ice is getting closer.”

                “Ladybug will save us…” Chloe mumbled softly. “Ladybug always saves me…” she breathed. The girls sat in silence for a little while longer, Chloe leaning back against Juleka for her warmth, and Juleka grateful for someone to regulate her breathing with.

                “Do you… have you ever…” Chloe began after a while, pausing to choose her words carefully. “Is it something… you deal with often?” she asked. Juleka nodded her head gently.

                “I’m ill almost every winter. A cold snap can also set it off,” she replied.

                “My… I mean…” Chloe began, not even sure if she should continue talking. She was wrestling with the words and it showed through in her twisted expressions.

                “You don’t have to…” Juleka began.

                “My mother suffered the same way. She was always ill, always in bed. In the Summer, she would take me to museums and to plays, but in the winter… she would rest,” Chloe continued, heart thundering in her chest.

                “Chloe…” Juleka mumbled softly.

                “I get scared when people are ill. Sickness is a beast that not much can fight, in the long run. Power, money, influence, even superheroes,” she went on, eyes closed as she pressed against Juleka a little more. The taller girl pulled her hands in once again, and slowly curled them around Chloe, who returned the gesture in kind.

                “I’m sorry… for being such a bitch,” the blonde said, her voice quivering only mostly due to the cold. “I’m sorry for causing you to be Akumatised. I’m sorry that I’m a spoilt, stuck up, arrogant, self-centred…” she continued.

                “Brat?” Juleka said, leaning back just enough to allow her to tilt Chloe’s head up a little. The blonde sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded.

                “Y-yeah,” Chloe mumbled. Juleka said nothing, looking deeply into Chloe’s eyes as she sniffled and struggled against her tears. The silence continued on until Chloe grew restless under the stare. “Wh-what?” she asked.

                “hmm?” Juleka asked with a croak. Chloe blinked once or twice, and leaned forward. Juleka’s eyes widened in surprise, but the gesture was not a sudden and unsolicited kiss as her brain had told her this was about to be, but rather, the blonde touched her forehead to Juleka’s, and winced.

                “You’re burning up, no wonder you spaced out. Come on, we need to get moving,” she said.

 

                “wha’ abaou’ you?” Juleka croaked, as Chloe wriggled to get her hands onto the zipper behind her.

                “I’ll be fine, you on the other hand might fall asleep, and that’s dangerous,” Chloe snapped. She emerged from the coat with a shriek and a shiver, but she quickly shuffled back and zipped it up again without herself inside. “Come on Juleka, jump with me. Star jumps, jog in the spot, we need to keep m-moving if we’re going to k-keep warm!”

                “can’t move…” Juleka grumbled, struggling to her feet before stumbling forwards. There came a sudden creak from above them, as the ice began to creep along faster. Both girls shared a Look, and both began to scramble away from the area as the ice began to pick up speed.

                “Oh god! I did not envision myself d-Dying like this! I definitely did not see it happening W-with you!” Chloe said, as she pulled the girl along. Juleka glared at her in irrititation. “Oh, no, I mean, I always thought I’d die alone, not in the company of someone I didn’t deserve,” she added, pulling Juleka onward.

                “Chloe…” the taller girl croaked weakly, but it was lost among the creaking of the ice.

                “This w-way’s b-b-blocked. Back that w-way, through that opening! Hurry! C-c-come on,” Chloe called, pulling Juleka onward as the girl stumbled. She urged Juleka up and over a lance of ice, but as she began to climb, the thing rapidly expanded, cutting the girls off from one another.

                “Juleka! L-l-look at me, l-l-listen to me. K-keep moving, even w-walk in a c-c-circle if that’s all you can d-do. You n-n-need to k-keep yourself awake!” she said. She watched Juleka shuffle a little, but the girl could barely keep upright, let alone move. Juleka dropped to a knee, and then to her side, and Chloe let out a gasp. Without a thought, she gritted her teeth, and took a few steps back. With all her might, she ran forwards, smashing into the thickening beam of ice with her shoulder. Pain and deathly chill lashed through her system, but she fought back, taking a few more steps back. She charged again, and a crack began to form in the ice. Juleka turned, her eyes barely still open, at the sound of Chloe ramming against the ice over and over, letting out a furious growl as she did so. Her last conscious sights were of Chloe smashing through the ice and falling onto the floor in a shower of ice spikes.

 

                A persistent beeping woke Juleka from her comatose state, her aching joints reminding her that it had been a while since she moved. She curled slowly, feeling the painful tug of inserted tubes on her arms. Her throat felt dry, dryer than it ever had before, and she wanted to open her eyes, but she found herself unable to pull apart the crud that had formed on them. She reached up gingerly, rubbing one firmly before opening it. The room was light, but outside the window, the sky was dark, or at least, as dark as Paris at night could get. She glanced around the room, and caught sight of a few familiar bodies. Rose was curled up on a sofa at the far end of the room, Ivan and Mylene were resting next to and in a chair nearby, Marinette sat with her back against a wall, her head resting against Alya, who was next to her. She shifted a little more, only to hear a gentle groan from level with her stomach. She craned her neck to see Chloe slumped against the bed, head upon her arms, level with her thighs. The girl stirred as Juleka did, the taller girl desperately working to clear her other eye.

                “Juleka?” Chloe whispered, lifting her head up to look. Her makeup was streaked and it looked like she had been crying. She wore a simple yellow T-shirt and her right arm was bandaged from the very tips of her fingers to beyond the sleeve of the shirt.

                “Hi,” the girl whispered in response. Chloe’s whole face lit up with elation, only to become a storm of concern as Juleka struggled to sit up.

                “Here, let me help,” she said, looping an arm beneath the girl. She pulled a lever on the bed and it began to change shape, allowing Juleka to look forward without having to strain herself.

                “What happened?” she whispered, once she was in a comfortable position.

                “The Miraculous Heroes saved us. Ladybug restored everything, but even her magic couldn’t do anything about…” Chloe began in hushed tones. Her hand drifted to her bandage, but she didn’t say more. “Anyway, the doctors are keeping you in overnight but you should pull through in a few days,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face.

                “Chloe, what happened to your arm?” Juleka asked, fixing on the bandage.

                “Nothing serious. I’m just glad you’re awake,” she said, a different forced smile appearing this time.

                “Chloe…”

                “It’s really nothing. Please,” the girl said, pleading with her eyes at the girl. Juleka took a deep breath, wondering if the sudden heart palpitation was her medicine doing something, or something else entirely.

                “OK,” she said quietly. She shuffled about in the bed as she tried to get comfortable, as Chloe breathed a soft sigh of relief. They sat in silence, save for the intermittent beeping, before Juleka tilted her head to one side. “Selfless brat,” she said with a little smile on her face.

                “Excuse me?” Chloe said with faux indignation, a genuine smile curling up on the corners of her lips.

                “You heard me,” Juleka replied with a little cough afterwards, wincing at how much even a small cough could drain her energy.

                “I most certainly did Juleka Couffaine and I don’t care for such torrid rumors. Selfless? Huh!” Chloe said with a pout.

                “Gunna tell everyone. Chloe was nice. Chloe put herself at risk for me,” Juleka teased. Chloe became a little flustered, her cheeks reddening as she huffed and blustered. Juleka let out a little giggle, but soon regretted it, coughing so hard she woke up a few of those in the room. Rose was the first to come across, with Ivan and Marinette close behind, and Chloe retreated, sitting quietly in the corner of the room.

 

                “Welcome back to the real world!” Rose exclaimed to Juleka as she stepped out of the hospital. She had been in for five days, gathering her strength back and having what seemed like endless tests done. She was glad to finally feel fresh air on her face, and the whole class had gathered to celebrate her release. Almost the whole class.

                “Whoa, this is cool. Um… where’s Chloe?” she asked, glancing around. Rose glanced nervously to Marinette, who also looked quite concerned.

                “Chloe is… otherwise engaged,” Alya said suddenly, bursting through the gathered classmates with a camcorder in hand. “But now that you’re out, I was wondering if you’d answer a few questions for the Ladyblog. Rose has told me you went back to help Chloe out before getting trapped…” Alya began. Juleka politely tuned the girl out a little as she glanced all around. She turned back to the hospital and could’ve sworn she saw a curtain twitch at the window of a room close to where she had been staying. As the class began to take her away, she glanced back again, and the curtain twitched once more. The party was a low key affair, snacks, cake and videogames mostly. No disco, no hiring of an area of the park, just a gathering around the only house large enough to house them all, the Agreste Manor.

                Juleka had been there before, once, at Christmas, and the place had not seemed particularly festive. It was tall, and creepy, but it lacked the charm of a more traditional creepy house, it was too modern, too clinical. She did her best to enjoy herself but her mind was occupied on other things, and it was clear before too long that she wanted to be elsewhere.

                She thanked everyone for their efforts, and politely declined Marinettes and Roses offers to walk her home, saying that she wanted a little time to herself. She hated lying, especially to Rose, but she had to, if she told them where she was actually going, they would try and talk her out of it. A walk, a bus ride and another walk later, the sun was setting and the streetlights lit up the externals of the hospital she had been discharged from.

                “Could you please tell me which room Miss Bourgeois is in? I’m a friend from school,” she asked at the reception. A handful of minutes later, she was stood outside the room next to her old one. Gently, she knocked on the door.

                “At last, do you know how long I have been… waiting… for…” Chloe’s voice said as she approached the door, swinging it open. She stopped talking, mouth hung open, as Juleka looked down at her. The girl stepped forward, and, wordlessly, embraced the blonde, holding her as tightly as she dared.

 

                “Frostbite,” Juleka said deadpan, as Chloe sat up on her bed. Her hug had not been the best thing, as Chloe had been waiting for a replacement bandage, leaving her wounds exposed.

                “I, uh… some of the shards… went into my arm…” Chloe mumbled, leaning to one side to prevent Juleka from seeing the full extent of the damage.

                “Why…” Juleka asked softly.

                “You collapsed. Th-they said you might have caught hypothermia if I hadn’t kept you warm. It was worth it,” she said, a whisper of a smile on her lips. “And I’d do it again,” she said.

                “Hmm…” Juleka muttered, shaking her head with a sigh. She stood up when a knock came to the door, and opened it to reveal a nurse with new bandages. Once Chloe had new wraps on, Juleka sat on the bed on her good side, and crossed her arms.

                “Been thinking. You said a lot of stuff in the ice. You apologised, and I didn’t respond. So… thank you for your apology. It’s a good start, but, there’s something else you’ve got to apologise for,” she said, working on peeling an orange.

                “Hmm?”

                “Yeah. You hurt someone very important to me on that day. You put her at risk, and that means you owe her an apology too,” Juleka said, staring intently at the orange.

                “Um… was it Rose?” Chloe asked, fear draining the colour from her cheeks.

                “No.”

                “Uuhhh.. not Marinette?”

                “Nope.”

                “I have no idea who it was, I’m so sorry.”

                “I’m not surprised, a lot of people don’t think much of her. They think she’s horrible, and that she’s not worth anything. But I know different. I know she’s repenting what she’s done in the past, and that she wants to change,” Juleka said. The colour suddenly came back to Chloe’s cheeks in the form of a bright blush.

                “Juleka…” she pouted.

                “Apologise to her,” Juleka said with a little smirk.

                “Sorry Chloe…” the girl said, feeling slightly embarrassed. Juleka let out a little giggle, and let her head gently rest against Chloe’s own.

                “That’s better. You’re mostly forgiven now,” the tall girl said.

                “Mostly?”

                “Well, you have to apologise to everyone else, and then actually become a better person, but baby steps,” Juleka said, putting a little pressure on the girl, pushing her to one side. Chloe returned the push in kind, letting out an indignant huff.

                “Well, if I knew being nice meant I would have to do it to everyone, I may have reconsidered! But if you insist,” she said, butterflies in her stomach and her heart pounding merrily against her chest.

                “Oh, and, not for nothing, but, Marinette’s throwing you a party when you leave here. I had to suffer through it, so do you,” she said, causing Chloe to let out a cackle of laughter.

                “That’s fair,” she said, carefully reaching down to take hold of Juleka’s hand. “Do you think I can do this?” she asked. Juleka considered the question for a while.

                “I think so. It’ll be hard, and it’s gunna suck at points. You might have to kiss more than Marinette’s cheek to get her on your side,” she said eventually.

                “I think I can handle that. Kissing girls is fine anyway,” Chloe said, giving Juleka a little squeeze on her hand.

                “It’s definitely more fun than not,” Juleka replied, her own heart skipping a beat. “But… baby steps,” she added quietly, returning the squeeze. Chloe nodded her head slowly.

                “I think I can handle that,” she said, smiling softly.

**Author's Note:**

> Gifted to Megatraven because her Chloleka fic inspired me to write this one.


End file.
